Newsnight faces the axe as BBC battles to deal with scandal

Lord Patten said the future of the Newsnight programme would be discussedJustin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

The BBC is bracing itself for more resignations after an internal report into which managers and editors were responsible for broadcasting the false allegation that a senior Conservative was a paedophile.

The future of Newsnight is also in doubt, with its editor and deputy editor facing questions about errors made over separate child abuse investigations.

George Entwistle, who resigned as Director-General on Saturday, suggested that a member of the BBC’s management board had approved the Newsnight report that referred to a “senior Conservative”. Lord McAlpine was widely identified on the internet soon after the report had been broadcast.